Valhalla Calling

A mobile-phone-based puzzle game where players guide an ancient Viking warrior through their last battle, to reach Valhalla. Besting as many enemies as possible… without surviving them all, for to get to Valhalla one must fall in battle, and the Viking warrior is too old for another one.

Gameplay

Player Character

Screenshot taking from: "The Saga of Biorn"(Available on Youtube)

The Player Character has three gameplay-relevant attributes. Health, Attack, and one Special Ability. All these attributes depend on the level and will always be the same if the level is replayed.

Health is the amount of damage the Player Character can take. Reducing it to zero via enemy attacks is part of the Victory Conditions.

Attack is the damage the Player Character does to enemies. Furthermore, it determines which party may attack first in a fight. Each movement diminishes Attack by one to a minimum of one. The Player Character may never have an Attack of less than one.

Special Abilities are changes to the game rules specific to a Player Character, making each Character unique to play, with different challenges.

Special Abilities

To Valhalla - After Health has been reduced to zero, the player may attack one final time
-> The Starting Ability, as it makes beating as many enemies as possible easier

Tricksters Cunning - The party with the lower attack may attack first in a fight
-> Changing up the formula, while keeping the core gameplay the same

Biorns Curse - Attack is always set to the enemy's HP.
-> Changing up the Gameplay to create a new challenge

Enemies

Enemies have two gameplay-relevant attributes Attack and Health, that function the same way as for the Player Character. Should the Attack of the Player Character and an enemy be the same, the Player Character attacks first.

Items

Items are pickups that change the Gameplay or Player attributes for a set amount of turns. Examples include:

Mjolnir - Sets Player Character Attack high enough to kill any Enemy in-game for the next attack
Loki's Trickery - For the next X turns, who attacks first is switched around
Dwarfen Shield - The next damage the Player Character takes is reduced to zero
Thor's Chariot - Next X movements do not lower Attack
Potion of Vitality - Restores Attack to its starting point

General Gameplay

Example of a Map(Solveable with the Rules outlined below), Blue Potions are Potions of Vitality

Setup

The Player Character and Enemies are placed on a 2D grid of variable size(see above). Fields may contain nothing, an Enemy, an Item, or the Player Character. The Player may view all enemy attributes whenever they wish.

Gameplay - Movement

The Player draws a path on the grid. This path may cross itself but may not follow itself. The Player does not need to draw a path that completes the level. After the Player stops drawing the path, the Player Character will follow it, losing one Attack for every Field they move to a minimum of one. Every time the Player Character encounters a field that holds an Enemy, combat starts. If the Player Character enters a field that contains an Item, the Item is immediately used. If the Player Character reaches the end of the drawn path and there are still enemies on the grid, the Player may draw another Path. If there are no Enemies left, they lose.

Gameplay - Combat

Combat starts when the Player Character enters a field that holds an enemy and is exclusively against this enemy. The side with the higher Attack(Side 1) goes first. Side 1’s Attack is subtracted from Side 2’s Health. If Side 2’s Health falls to or below zero, Side 2 is removed from the game. Otherwise, Side 2’s Attack is subtracted from Side 1’s Health. The fight continues until one side has lost. If the enemy loses the fight, the Player Character continues the drawn path. If the Player Character loses, they win or lose the game depending on how many enemies they bested.

Gameplay - Victory/Loss Conditions

The goal is to beat as many Enemies while reaching zero Health with the Player Character before all Enemies are bested. However, besting more Enemies will lead to a higher score while risking that the Player Character survives the fight.

Loss Conditions

Being alive while all enemies are dead
Besting less than 50% of all enemies before reaching zero Health

Victory Conditions

Besting at least 50% of all enemies and reaching zero Health

The following each give one star in the traditional three-star rating system:

Drawing only one Line
Besting all(but one) enemy
Falling against an enemy that has equal or more attack to Player Character at the start